Tips

Identifying the type of transition

The blue box listed to the left of each transition will tell you the type of transition it is. A single triangle facing right indicates this transition is applied to the beginning of a clip, such as a fade-in. A single triangle facing left indicates this transition is applied to the end of a clip, such as a wash out. Two triangles indicates the transition is applied between two clips, such as a cross dissolve.

Adjust a transition’s speed and other settings

You can adjust the speed of most transitions. For example, you can apply a quick cross dissolve between two clips or fade a clip in over several seconds. Use the Speed slider at the bottom of the Transitions pane to adjust the timing, and then click the Update button. With the Push transition, you can adjust where the clip comes from.

Applying a transition to multiple clips at once

If you want to apply the same transition between multiple clips, select the clips in the timeline, then apply the transition. This adds the transition to all of the selected clips. To select multiple clips, hold down the Command key while selecting the individual clips or hold the Shift key to select a range of clips.

Fade in and out to black

There may be times in your movie when you want to show that you’ve switched to a different location or time of day. A technique commonly used to achieve this goal is to fade your video to, or from, black. Use the Speed slider to adjust the length of the fade, and then drag the Fade In transition to the left of (or the Fade Out transition to the right of) a clip in the clip viewer. Fades are also most common at the beginning or end of a movie.

Use transitions to make your subject magically appear

You can use a dissolve transition between clips to have your subject appear as if by magic. For example, with your camcorder on a tripod, capture video of someone in a room. Then stop recording and have the person leave the room. Without moving your camcorder, capture more footage of the empty room. You can edit these clips together in iMovie with a dissolve to have your subject appear and disappear from the scene!

While your transition renders

You can keep working in iMovie while you transitions are being created or updated. You just won’t be able to play the full transition until it has completed rendering.

How two-clip transitions affect your movie length

Most two-clip transitions shorten the overall length of your movie because a transition between two clips combines part of each clip. For example, if you add a two-second cross-dissolve, your movie will be shortened by two seconds. Consider this when matching a movie’s length to a specific song, or when aligning scenes to specific points in your soundtrack, since adding a transition could affect the overall length of your movie. An exception is Overlap, because it uses a single frame from the outgoing clip as it fades in the following clip. As such, the overall movie length is not affected.

When to use a transition

Just because you can insert a transition between clips, don’t feel you must. While transitions can be a great way to add fun to a video, give it a soft montage-like feeling, or imply the passage of time or change of location, most Hollywood movies use very few transitions. While the most common transitions are cross-dissolves and fades, sometimes the best transition from one clip to another is a straight cut.

Have your subject push the transition

If you film your subject appearing to push against a wall, you can use this footage in combination with a Push effect so it appears that the subject is causing the video transition to occur in your movie.

Steps

Add transitions between your video clips

1. Open the clip viewer and click the Return button. This will set the location for our first transition to be at the beginning of the movie.
2. Click the Editing button and then click Transitions. You’ll see a list of all the transitions you can choose from.
3. Select Fade In and watch the preview applied to your first clip. You can control the length of the fade in using the speed slider.
4. Drag the Fade-In transition to be the first clip in your movie. You’ll see the other clips shift to the right as you drop the fade-in in place and you’ll see a new transition marker get added to your movie. Notice the small red line below the transition marker. This line appears while the transition is being created, or rendered.
5. After the transition marker renders, click the Rewind button and watch the new opening of your movie.
6. Select the second video clip in your movie, and then select the Cross Dissolve transition. Notice the preview window now shows a cross dissolve from your first video clip to the second.
7. Drag the Cross Dissolve transition to the location between your first and second video clips to apply it.
8. After the new transition renders, click Rewind, and then click Play. Notice how the new cross dissolve provides a smooth transition between your two clips.
9. Select the cross dissolve transition marker, and change the speed of the transition using the speed slider. Click Update to apply the new speed to your existing transition.